Monday, June 10, 2013

Where Rapelje and Pleasure Intersect

I got thinking about Astoria history. A lot of it is hidden in plain sight. The more
hipster inclined, myself included, get off on the old street names. SITE is
changing its name to Lockwood. We can enjoy a beer at Suswick or Hell Gate, a
meal at Pachanga Patterson, have Van Alst cater a whole damn party, or mail a
letter at the Woosley Station Post Office. This, my dear, is Astoria history!

Why, young child, way back in the days, before there was a New York City outside of Manhattan, there was Long Island City, an independent city which existed from 1870
to 1898. Astoria and everything south was part of it (Ravenswood, Dutch Kills, Blissville, Sunnyside, and Hunters Point).

In 1898, when
Queens unified and joined NYC, Long Island City ceased to exist (to everybody but the Post Office, which is why you can -- and until recently technically should -- mail yourself love letters addressed to Long
Island City, New York).

Who wouldn’t prefer to have a
real street name instead of a number? You may have lived on Cabinet Street, Van
Alst Ave, Kowenhoven, Luyster, Winslow Place, or even Pleasure Avenue. Nowadays people get lost at the corner of 31st Street and 30th Drive.

But these names disappeared when
somebody saw a problem in one borough having, say, twelve Washington Streets and four
Broadways. Yes, that might have been a problem. Too bad the solution was even worse.

I can't find a grand on-line listing
of all the old street names. So here’s one. It’s not complete (and there may be
a typo or two), but it covers most of the streets and avenues from the Queensburo Bridge
to Ditmars, from Vernon Blvd to 50th Street.

This all comes courtesy of [too
much time and] my handy 1919 Atlas of Long Island City’s Ward One. I assume (but
do not know) that the name in parenthesis precede the 1870 incorporation of
Astoria Village into Long Island City. Alas, all these names went out -- with
some opposition -- in the 1920s when everything was replaced with "modern" system which changed address numbers and street names. Sigh.

If you want to know a
specific street not listed, let me know.

Old and New Astoria Street Names (from West to East, mostly
off 34th Avenue)

1919 name (earlier name)

2013 name

Vernon Ave

Vernon Blvd

Hamilton St

9th St

Hancock St

10th St

Boulevard (Warren St)

11th St

Sherman St

12th St

Marion St

13th St

Hopkins Ave (Jay St)

14th St

Van Alst Ave (Emerald St)

21st St

Suswick St

22nd St

Ely Ave (Spring St)

23rd St

William St

24th St.

Crescent St (Prospect St)

Crescent St

Radde St

28th St

Academy St

29th St

1st Ave (Lockwood St)

30th St

2nd Ave (Debevoise Ave)

31st St

3rd Ave (Lathrop St)

32nd St

4th Ave (Rapelje Ave)

33rd St

5th Ave (Briell St)

34th St

6th Ave (Barthow St)

35th St

7th Ave (Blackwell St)

36th St

8th Ave (Pomeroy St)

37th St

9th Ave (Kowenhoven St)

38th St

Steinway Ave

Steinway St.

11th Ave (Albert St)

41st St

12th Ave (Winans St)

42nd St

13th Ave (Grace St)

43rd St

14th Ave (Stemler St)

44th St

15th Ave (Luyster St)

45th St

16th Ave (Titus St)

46th St

17th Ave (Oakley St)

47th St

18th Ave (Balowin St)

48th St

19th Ave (Cabinet St)

49th St

20th Ave (Wallace St)

50th St

21th Ave (Hobart St)

Hobart St

Old and New Astoria Avenue Names (from South to North, mostly off Crescent and 31st St.)